ANEW shared church for Catholics and Anglicans will be opened on Monday at Cippenham. Bucks, with a special joint service to mark the occasion.
The service, which will begin at 7 p.m. will consist of scripture readings and joint prayer, and will be led by Bishop Grant of Northampton and Bishop Carpenter of Oxford (Church of England). The Anglican bishop of Buckingham, Bishop Popys, will also attend. The sermon will be by Fr. Nicholas Lash.
The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, will be the parish church for the Anglicans in the area and a chapel-of-ease for Catholics in the parish of Burnham. A special body, the Cippenham Shared Church Trust, was set up in June, 1969, to deal with its administration.
The trust's council consists of ten lay people. Fr. David Woodard, and the Rev. Alan Carey, an Anglican. The churches will pay for the use of the building, but the trust will provide all the linen and furnishings.
MOVABLE FURNITURE Spedial movable furniture and screens have been installed to make the church as flexible in use as possible. Up to four different activities will be possible at the same time. This means that other local groups will 'be able to use the church for meetings and services.
The two communities will hold joint services, though the main Sunday services will be held separately. There will be a joint children's service at 11 a.m. on Sundays, and they will then divide for Sunday school and Catechism class.
There has already been some sharing of facilities in the parish, the temporary Anglican church and hall which stood an the site of the new church was used both for Parish Communion and for Sunday Mass.